


Uneven Odds

by NotMoose67



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, M/M, Married Klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 19:12:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13130214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotMoose67/pseuds/NotMoose67
Summary: “Hi, there, little fella. Whatcha doin’ all the way out here in space, huh?” Lance asked the baby as he carefully walked away from the rubble. Keith cleared his path to the door, occasionally getting very distracted by the adorable baby in his husband’s arms. Now was not the right time to find his husband more attractive than ever, but damn it if Lance holding that baby didn’t make Keith’s heart swell with a truckload of feelings.Basically, Keith and Lance unexpectedly find a baby on a mission and have to channel their inner parent nature while they figure out what to do next.





	Uneven Odds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [goldanaf](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=goldanaf).



It was just like any other mission. Or at least, it should’ve been. 

 

The team was responding to a stress signal they had gotten not long ago from a tiny rebel camp not far from the Balmerans. When they arrived on the base, there was no obvious sign of life. The entire area was completely demolished; rubble covered the ground and the limp bodies of rebel fighters were scattered about the base. All that could be seen was ruin. Ships ruined. Weapons ruined. Lives ruined. 

 

Keith stared at the sight before him, imagining the brave fight that took each of these soldiers down. He imagined them standing up to Haggar’s fleet, terrified, trembling, and determined, only to be knocked down one by one. His eyes panned the entirety of the destroyed base, growing wider at each fallen soldier he noticed. 

 

Keith’s reaction must have been fairly noticeable. He saw Lance staring at him from the side with a concerned look on his face. Lance stepped forward and took Keith’s hand, lacing their fingers together as he did so. He gently squeezed Keith’s hand, letting him know he felt the pain, too. They’d been doing this for years, but the sight of a fallen army always hurt. They were too late. 

 

Keith bit his bottom lip, trying to hold back the tears and the anger. Lance pulled Keith into a tight hug, knowing it wouldn’t fix everything, but comfort from a loved one helped, even if only a little bit. 

 

“We’re too late.” Keith muttered into Lance’s shoulder, his voice shaking as he croaked out those few words.

 

The team remained silent. All that could be heard was Keith’s muffled breathing. 

 

“Maybe not.” Pidge’s voice broke the silence. “I’m getting a signal of life from over there.” She pointed to a small, collapsing, but not yet destroyed, house-like structure in the distance. The whole team turned their heads to the tiny home. They stayed silent, hoping that if they did so they would hear a voice or something to indicate life. Nothing.

 

“We should go check it out. There could be people in there. They might need our help; we could save them.” Keith turned to his teammates, rapidly shooting off ideas. “Please. If there’s someone in there, we have to save them.” He looked up at Shiro, who nodded in approval.

 

“Let’s go. Carefully. Keith, Lance - you go inside. The rest of us can monitor from outside and make sure no one goes in there after you two.” Shiro gestured for them to start moving.

 

Lance took Keith’s hand once again and led the way to the home. As they got closer, his heart beat faster and faster, and he could feel Keith’s doing the same. Once they arrived at the small house, they broke apart and grabbed their bayards. Lance turned to his husband before opening the door, waiting for his signal. Keith nodded and braced himself to rush inside. 

 

They opened the door slowly just in case the life Pidge had detected was one of Haggar’s soldiers. The door creaked as they pushed it open, certainly not helping their nerves. Lance shoved the door one last time and it finally opened all the way. 

 

Keith turned on his light as did Lance. They scanned the room with their lights, looking for any sign of life. The two walked around the small room, lifting up chairs that had fallen over and sifting through the rubble that littered the floor. Lance was busy investigating a large wooden chest when he heard Keith’s footsteps stop. He looked over at his husband standing over two large lumps laying on the ground. 

 

“Lance…” Keith’s voice was barely audible. He was in too much shock to say anything else. He crouched down to take a closer look, and his closer look confirmed his horrible prediction. Laying on the ground before him were two bodies. Two lifeless, bloodied, broken, bodies. He let out a shaky breath and stumbled backwards into Lance, who thankfully, caught him before he fell onto a pile of metal shards. 

 

“Lance… No. No, no, no. We have to save someone. Pidge detected life in here! There– there has to be someone in here, right?” Keith stuttered as he breathed heavily. He gripped onto Lance’s arms tightly, grounding himself in all this confusion. 

 

“I–I don’t know, Keith. I don’t…” Lance stopped mid-sentence to walk over to a table next to the bodies. He picked up what looked like a picture frame and dusted it off with his glove. Keith gingerly made his way over to the table to see what Lance had found. 

 

“It’s a picture. It looks relatively recent, too. Not too worn or anything.” Lance inspected the picture he held in his hands. The picture was of a family of three – a mother, a father, and a baby. They all appeared very human, and Lance had no idea how or why there were other humans out this far in space. In the middle of the picture, in the mother’s lap, was a little baby. The baby was smiling up at the two parents as they smiled down at their beautiful child. 

 

“Oh. Oh, God.” Lance nearly dropped the picture when he realized who those two parents were. Or rather, where those two parents were. They were right there, on the floor, lifeless, bloodied, and broken. 

 

Keith must’ve realized it at the same moment because he glanced up at Lance in horror. 

 

“The baby. Where’s the baby? You don’t think Haggar– you don’t think she would’ve – she wouldn’t take a baby, right?” He stumbled over his words. 

 

“Keith, shut up. Do you hear that?” The two stood there, silent, listening. From the corner of the room, behind the wooden chest, came a meek, muffled cry. A cry that sounded a lot like it came from a baby. Lance grabbed the picture and flung himself over the broken furniture scattered about, and Keith followed after. 

 

He pushed the wooden chest away from the corner and there, underneath several blankets, was a little, moving lump. The two paladins stared at each other, eyes wide and hands shaking. Keith reached down to remove the blankets one at a time. With each blanket he removed, the little lump moved more and the sounds it made grew louder. He got to the last blanket and took a deep breath before removing it. His hand shook as he pulled it away, and there, curled up on the floor, was a baby. The baby from the picture. 

 

Keith and Lance let out relieved sighs and laughs mixed with unavoidable tears. Lance took one of the blankets and placed it over the little baby before ever so gently picking up the child. 

 

“Hi, there, little fella. Whatcha doin’ all the way out here in space, huh?” Lance asked the baby as he carefully walked away from the rubble. Keith cleared his path to the door, occasionally getting very distracted by the adorable baby in his husband’s arms. Now was not the right time to find his husband more attractive than ever, but damn it if Lance holding that baby didn’t make Keith’s heart swell with a truckload of feelings. 

 

Before opening the door, he glanced over at Lance, who was beaming at the little bundle in his arms. Keith realized that he, too, was beaming. He wiped away the last few tears from his dirty cheeks and let out a shaky breath. Using all his remaining strength, Keith pushed open the heavy metal door and held it for Lance and the baby. The light from the sky was bright compared to the darkness of the room they had just been in so Keith did his best to cover the baby’s eyes to protect them from any glare. 

 

The baby, who had been relatively quiet except for the cries that helped Lance and Keith realize where to look, must have realized that this was no longer home and started sniffling. Sniffling soon evolved into a quivering bottom lip, which soon became wailing. 

 

“Hey, hey, shhhh. It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you.” Lance pulled the baby close to his chest, trying his best to remember how he had cared for his little nieces and nephews when they were babies. He gently bounced up and down and continued to whisper sweet affirmations to the baby. Soon, the crying dwindled and the baby, clearly tired from all the events of the day, snuggled into Lance’s chest. Lance let out a quiet sigh and looked over at Keith, who appeared absolutely terrified and stunned. 

 

“You okay?” He asked.

 

“How’d you do that?” Keith sputtered out. 

 

“Do what? Calm the baby?” Keith nodded. “Oh. I, uh, I don’t know. Instinct, I guess.” Lance shrugged slightly, remembering that the baby was finally calm and close to sleep. 

 

“Lance? Keith?” Hunk’s voice rang in their ears as the yellow paladin rounded the corner of the house. “Hey! You’re okay!” He was about to run up to his two friends when he noticed the little bundle Lance was holding close.

 

“What’s that?” Lance walked over to his friend and showed him what was inside the blanket. “Oh. Wow. So that was the life form Pidge detected?” Keith and Lance both nodded, not once removing their eyes from the baby. 

 

“Hi, little guy. I’m Hunk.” Hunk smiled big at the baby in Lance’s arms and his contagious smile spread to the other two paladins. 

 

“Hey, Hunk – Whoa. Baby. Um. Shiro!” Pidge ran back from where she had just come. She had always shown herself to be slightly, well, very, afraid of tiny humans. Tiny anything, really. They had once met some baby Balmerans and Pidge stood behind Shiro the entire time. 

 

Pidge came back around the corner, dragging Shiro behind her. Shiro was in the middle of questioning Pidge but stopped immediately when he saw what Lance held. 

 

“Is that?”

 

“Yeah. We found him in there, alone. His parents are dead.” Keith stated matter-of-factly. 

 

“Oh. Wow. So… I guess we bring the baby onto the ship then, right? We certainly can’t leave him here.” Shiro decided.

 

“Him? Oh, I guess we never checked.” Lance gently lifted the baby and awkwardly peeked in the diaper. “Yeah, definitely a him. And definitely needs a diaper change.” 

 

“We can take him up to the castle in Red. You okay holding him, Lance?” Keith turned to his husband. Lance was still making a face from smelling the diaper but nodded anyway. 

 

Keith flew them up to the castle and landed his lion as gently as he possibly could, not wanting to disturb the sleeping baby. They got out of the ship only to be greeted by three more curious faces. Allura, Coran, and Matt were all waiting for the paladins to return and were surprised when they brought back an extra member. 

 

“Baby. Whoa.” Matt’s eyes were wide as he gaped at the baby.

 

“That’s what I said! How the hell–”

 

“Pidge! Language! He mustn’t be exposed to such vile language!” Lance snapped at Pidge.

 

“Ugh. Fine. How the  _ heck _ did a human baby end up all the way out here?” She reiterated. 

 

“No idea. Maybe he’s not fully human? I mean, Keith looks fully human but he’s got alien junk DNA in there somewhere.”

 

“Thanks, babe.” Keith sighed. “I guess he could be part something else. We should check. Coran, you got anything we can use to do that?”

 

Coran excitedly ran away mumbling something about a species identifier extraordinaire. It took the team a moment to realize that they were meant to follow. They didn’t. 

 

“Well, I gotta go get Blue and I can’t exactly take this little guy with me. Keith, can you hold him while I go get her?” Lance held out the baby toward Keith and he backed away fairly quickly. “What, you afraid to hold him?”    
  
“Well…” 

 

“Oh, my God. You’re afraid to hold babies. How did I not know this? We’ve been married five years–”

 

“Six years, Lance.” Keith added. 

 

“Right. Six years, and I never knew this about you. Okay… Hunk! Can you hold him for me?” Hunk happily agreed and eagerly took the baby from Lance’s arms. Lance ran with Pidge to her lion so he could get down to Blue. 

 

“Hi, buddy.” Hunk cooed at the baby. Keith shuffled closer to Hunk, trying to get a better look at the baby they’d rescued. He had soft, dark hair, almost black, and dark green eyes. He had a little button nose and his hands were so tiny that Keith figured they’d only take up about half of his palm. Absentmindedly, Keith reached out and swiped the hair out of the baby’s eyes, which made his attention shift completely to Keith.

 

“Oh. Oops.” Keith backed away slightly but Hunk brought him back. 

 

“He likes you. See?” The baby reached toward Keith and Keith couldn’t help but lean in to let him touch his face. He patted Keith’s cheeks and before long, found Keith’s longest lock of hair and tugged on it. 

 

“Ow!” Keith exclaimed. The baby started crying again. “Oh! Oh, no! I’m okay! See? I’m okay!” Keith came back to the baby and gently stroked his hair until he calmed a little. He reached up to Keith’s face once again and patted at it lightly. He touched Keith’s hair, but didn’t tug, and giggled when flipped his loose bangs back. Well, Keith couldn’t exactly keep a straight face then. He let the baby continue to play with his bangs until Lance waltzed back into the hangar. 

 

“Hey! Did I miss much?”

 

“Keith and the baby are bonding.” Pidge commented. 

 

“Awww. Well, you’re gonna have to do that again. I must see it.”

 

“Maybe you’ll remember this bonding moment.” Keith mumbled before hurrying away, laughing.

 

“He’s never going to let that go, is he?” Lance asked the baby in Hunk’s arms. “Okay, let’s go find Coran, huh?” 

 

Lance and Hunk started walking toward where Coran was when the baby made a muffled cry. He reached his little arms out for Lance and tried to inch closer and closer to him. 

 

“I think he remembers that you saved him, Lance.” Hunk said as he handed the baby back to Lance. 

 

Lance, a little stunned that this baby would remember all of that after such a traumatic day, held tightly onto him and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead as they continued to walk down the hallway. The baby snuggled into Lance’s chest again, this time gripping onto Lance’s armor with his tiny hands. By the time they reached Coran and the others, he was asleep once again. 

 

“So, if you don’t mind, we will need to place that little fella in this pod for a bit so it can test his DNA.” Lance handed the sleeping baby over to Coran, who placed him in the pod. Lucky for all, he remained asleep. Coran ran the machine and soon enough, it beeped and signaled that the test was done. What came out was a sheet with all sorts of Altean symbols. After all these years, Lance still hadn’t mastered Altean, so he just let the others read it while he retrieved the baby.

 

“Completely human. Huh.” Pidge mumbled. “How did he get all the way out here?”

 

“Well, I guess that doesn’t really matter now, does it? What matters now is that we take him home so he can be safe. He should never have been here in the first place.” Shiro reasoned, soon realizing the somber look on Lance’s and Keith’s faces. “I’m sorry, but I think that’s best for him. Don’t you?”

 

“Yeah,” muttered Keith. “It is. How long will it take to get to Earth?”

 

“About a week in Earth time.” Allura added softly. 

 

“Okay. But for now, we should take care of him and love him. He deserves that.” Keith looked at his teammates who all nodded in agreement. He shuffled over to Lance, smiled down at the adorable baby in his arms, and kissed him ever so sweetly. The baby stirred in Lance’s arms, but stayed asleep, and the sight alone made Keith’s heart flip. 

 

“Hey, whaddya say we go find him a new diaper? This one reeks.” Lance joked, knowing his husband needed a laugh right now. Keith chuckled softly and followed Lance toward the washroom.

 

“Wow. A baby. A human baby. What are the odds?” Allura asked Shiro.

 

“Uneven. Uneven odds.”

 

––––––––––––––––––––

 

“Hey, can you hand me that soap over there?” Lance gestured to a blue bar of soap sitting at the edge of the tub. Keith leaned over, grabbed it, and handed it to Lance. “Thanks.”

 

“Is that safe for babies? Don’t they need like special soap for sensitive skin or something?” Keith inquired. 

 

“Nah, this stuff is super basic and gentle. That’s how I have such silky soft skin.” Keith rolled his eyes at his ridiculous husband, who was beaming at the compliment he’d just given himself. 

 

Lance rubbed the bar between his hands, getting them all soapy, and turned back to the baby sitting in the partially filled bathtub. He did his best to scrub off all the dirt and grime and, when finally satisfied with his work, rinsed off all the soap. Lance grabbed the shampoo and put an amount the size of a pea in his palm and smoothed it into the baby’s hair. Soon enough, the shampoo was fluffy enough for him to give the little baby a mohawk, which made Keith laugh. 

 

“Aw, what a cute little rebel. Can I try something?” Lance moved over and let Keith sit down where he had been. Keith messed with the little dark curls for a few moments. “There.”

 

“A mullet? No. We are not giving our baby a mullet. One mullet is enough for our family.” Lance exclaimed. 

 

“Heh, yeah. Except he’s not our baby, Lance.” Keith sighed somberly before taking a cup of water and rinsing the baby’s head as gently as he could. He ran his hand through the little dark locks, rinsing out all the shampoo. 

 

“I know.”

 

As if the baby knew his pseudo-fathers needed cheering up, the little baby sneezed right before their eyes. His whole body responded, arms flailing and feet kicking. It was enough to make Keith and Lance forget the sadness of the situation for a moment and burst out laughing. The baby looked up at them, wondering what he had done to make these tall figures make so much happy noise, and he, too, giggled along with them. Lance scooped him up and kissed him all over his cheeks, making him, and Keith, giggle and squirm even more. By the time Lance was done giving the baby raspberries all over his pudgy tummy, his head was soaked with water. He really didn’t care. 

 

“Hand me that towel?”

 

“Yeah.” Keith draped the towel around the baby and dried him off as best he could. The baby squirmed around in Lance’s grip as Keith dried him, clearly unhappy with the process. “There we go. Nice and dry.” Lance wrapped the towel around the baby as a makeshift onesie and he looked like a tiny, fluffy burrito. 

 

“What the hell– I mean  _ heck _ – are we going to use as a diaper for now? I don’t think we don’t have any here in the castle,” commented Keith, slightly concerned about all the future pooping and  _ stuff _ that would soon happen. 

 

“Um… we can make some reusable ones to wash? Like out of extra cloth? I know my mama did that with us when she didn’t want to spend the money on more diapers because they add up. I think I could probably make some if I find some cloth… But for now, I guess we can use these towels?”

 

“Okay. Sure. We should find him something else to wear, though. How about this?” Keith held up an old t-shirt of his that said “Geology Rocks!” on it with a little cartoon boulder smiling. 

 

“We’ll finally put that shirt to good use,” Lance said, snickering. 

 

“Hey! This is a great shirt!” Keith said as he placed it over the baby and tied it around his middle where the makeshift diaper ended. 

 

“Sure, babe.” Keith glared at Lance for his sarcastic comment. “So, uh, while I go look for some fabric for the diapers, can you watch him? I don’t really want to have to get Hunk again. He seemed pretty interested in whatever technology Coran used to test DNA.”

 

“Um. Okay…”

 

“It’s easy,” Lance said as he stood up, baby still in his arms. He escorted Keith and the baby back into their room and told Keith to sit on the bed, comfortably. Keith obeyed. “Babe, you look terrified. I don’t want to make you do this if you’re really scared. I can go get Hunk. No big deal.”

 

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m just – I’m just afraid I’m gonna accidentally hurt him or drop him or something’s gonna happen and I won’t be able to fix it.” Keith looked up at Lance and the baby, his brow furrowed and his heart beating faster than usual. 

 

“You’re going to be fine. I promise. Now, hold out your arms like mine. His head is going to rest in the crook of your elbow, and your other hand will support his body. Got it?” Keith cautiously nodded and scooted back on the bed so his back was against the frame. Lance gently placed the baby in his arms, and Keith released an audible sigh when the baby was finally settled. 

 

“See? Not that bad, huh?” 

 

“No. Not bad at all.” Keith smiled down at the little bundle in his arms. Holding a baby was nothing like he had imagined. The baby was so soft and warm and perfect. He curled into Keith’s chest and looked up at him. He blinked a few times, trying to take in every part of Keith’s face. His eyes became heavy and his blinks slower and less often. The baby further snuggled into Keith’s arms and yawned, which made both Lance and Keith yawn, as well. Keith felt a wave of warmth overcome his entire body as this little baby fell asleep in his arms. Unable to control it, Keith felt a few tears roll down his cheeks. He didn’t really know why they were there, but he didn’t care. 

 

“Oh. My heart.” He glanced up at his husband, who was wiping away his own tears and sniffling. “Okay, I have to go find cloth before I melt into a puddle of tears from all this cuteness.” 

 

Lance leaned in and kissed Keith on the forehead and gave the baby a kiss, too. Keith kept all his attention on the snoozing bundle in his arms. His heart felt different than it ever had before. Sure, when he looked at Lance his heart did cartwheels and the moment they got married, it had grown ten times its size, but now, it felt completely different. His heart ached and felt full at the same time. Already, his heart loved this little baby so much, which would only making saying goodbye even harder. Keith decided to not think about that right now. The baby stirred in his arms, and Keith found himself quieting him and kissing his forehead to calm him. He leaned back on the bed and began softly singing a song he remembered from when he was younger. The words of “Uneven Odds” flowed from his lips. As he sang, the baby slept, and Keith let himself, and his heart, indulge in this moment. 

 

––––––––––––––––––––

 

Lance leaned back against the bedframe and yawned. He always yawned like a cat – with his entire body. His arms flew up in the air and his legs stretched out to the edge of the bed. Keith happened to look at Lance at the right moment and yawned, too. The baby in his arms continued the chain and yawned as well. 

 

“That was adorable. As much as I want to keep playing with this little guy all night, I also want to go to bed. Can’t do that with him right there.” Lance pointed at the baby in Keith’s arms, who had been there for hours. Keith hadn’t even put him down when it was time for dinner. He had just eaten with one hand and held the baby with the other. Lance thought it was pretty cute, but not when he needed sleep. 

 

“Why not? I’ll hold him. It’ll be fine, won’t it?” Keith asked the baby. 

 

“Keith. You need sleep, too. So does he. Neither of you are going to get enough if you hold him all night, trust me. I’ve done that before and you always wake up sore with neck pains.” 

 

Keith sighed and finally gave in, getting up to walk the baby back to the nursery on the other side of the castle. Lance soon followed but was stopped when Keith halted in the doorway.

 

“Okay, but what if we move his crib in here? Then we don’t need a baby monitor thing, and we’re close to him all night.”

 

Lance stepped back and pondered Keith’s idea. “Well, I guess that would work. I can go get the crib if you want me to.” Keith gave Lance a toothy grin in appreciation. Lance rolled his eyes and left the room. After a few minutes of Keith and baby cuddling on the bed, Lance came back, crib and all with him. He placed it in the corner of their room and gestured for Keith to come over and put the baby to bed. Keith reluctantly set the baby in the crib, but only after he’d kissed him several times and let Lance do the same. 

 

“Goodnight,” cooed Keith. Lance couldn’t help but smile at his husband. Sure, Keith had lots of cute moments, but this, saying goodnight to a sweet little baby, was cuteness overload. It combined two of Lance’s favorite things: his cute husband and an even cuter baby. He leaned over to Keith and gently kissed his temple before lacing their fingers together and taking Keith to their bed. The two sat down on one side of the bed and stayed quiet for a moment. 

 

“What a weird day.”

 

“Heh. Yeah.” Lance looked over at Keith, who was staring intently at the ground, which Lance knew meant that he was mulling something over. It also meant that whatever he was thinking about hurt to think about. Keith didn’t do this often, but Lance recognized the look. He’d seen it when Pidge had been taken captive by the Galra with no signs of return and when Shiro had been in a healing pod for a few weeks. Lance loved a lot of Keith’s looks, but not this one. He hated this one. He hated that he often could do nothing to help his hurting husband except hold him and tell him it would all be better even when he had absolutely no idea how it would turn out. Lance placed his hand on Keith’s back and traced circles and other shapes on his back. 

 

“Hey, I think it was a good day.” Keith turned to Lance with a questioning look on his face. “Any day where we both make it out of a mission unscathed is a good day. Any day where I don’t have to hear you cry out in pain or watch you fall to the ground, hurt, is a good day. Any day where I don’t have to worry that I’m not going to say ‘I love you’ one last time or carry your limp body to the lions or pray to God that we’re going to somehow make it out all right is a good day.” His voice cracked on the last sentence as a few tears made streaks on his cheek. Lance wrapped his arm around Keith’s waist and pulled him close. 

 

“Any day where I get to hold you close at night and thank the universe that I’ve got you is a good day. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d say today was a pretty damn good day.” He chuckled with those last few words which made Keith do the same. Keith turned in Lance’s arms and lifted his hand to his cheek. He wiped away the few tears that continued to stream down his face.

 

“Damn it, Lance, you’re gonna make me cry, too.”

 

“Not that hard, babe,” Lance joked wetly. Between the quiet sobs and snickers, Keith reached up and cupped Lance’s face with both hands. He leaned in and let his lips gently grace Lance’s. Keith leaned in to do it again when Lance crashed their lips together, clearly not waiting for Keith’s teasing. Soon, the two were completely enamored in the kiss. Lance’s hands were tangled in Keith’s dark locks and Keith’s hands had slipped to his husband’s slender waist and were gently thumbing over his hips.

 

“Hmm. Lance, baby.”

 

“Hm, yeah, baby.”

 

“No, Lance,” Keith pulled away from a very unsatisfied Lance. “Baby.” He pointed at the crib and Lance soon noticed that the baby was definitely stirring. 

 

“Oh.” He jumped up from the bed to investigate. “Oh! He just needs his diaper changed.” Lance scooped up the baby and waddled back to the bathroom. Keith followed like a little duckling. 

 

“Maybe we should call him something other than ‘baby,’ you think?” Lance asked as he undid the cloth diaper. “Got any ideas?”

 

“Oliver.”

 

“Oliver?” Lance cocked his eyebrow as he tried to fold the new diaper. 

 

“Uh. Yeah. I, uh, I’ve always wanted to name one of my kids that.” Keith nervously ran his hand through his hair, realizing that he must not have told Lance this little detail about the future he imagined for them. 

 

“Ollie for short?” Keith hummed in agreement. The baby beneath them seemed to smile wider in approval. “All right, Ollie it is, then. Hello, Ollie.” Lance picked up little Ollie and kissed his chubby cheek. Ollie giggled tiredly in response. 

 

The two escorted Oliver back to the crib and Lance slowly placed him back down on the squishy pillow they’d found. Keith reached into the crib and smoothed his hand over Oliver’s  soft hair. 

 

“Goodnight, Ollie.”

 

––––––––––––––––––––

 

The teapot whistled loudly as steam billowed out its top. Keith shuffled over to the teapot and poured the hot water into his red mug. The mug had been a gift from Lance, who knew Keith missed tea and coffee a lot. Somehow, Lance had also found him a lifetime supply of Earl Grey tea, which was by far Keith’s favorite tea. Keith dipped a bag into the hot water and left it to steep for a few minutes. Earl Grey always calmed Keith’s nerves, and tonight, he definitely needed that. It had been a week since they’d found Oliver. That meant he had to go home to Earth the next day, and Keith wasn’t ready. 

 

Keith removed the tea bag from his mug and threw it in the trash. He took a wedge of the lemon-like fruit they’d all come accustomed to and squeezed it into the tea. Just as he was headed for the door, Shiro appeared in the doorway. 

 

“Hey,” Shiro said quietly with a slight smile on his lips.

 

“Hey.” Keith couldn’t get himself to look Shiro in the eyes. It was Shiro, after all, who originally decided that Ollie couldn’t stay here with them and had to return to Earth. This tricky situation was by no means Shiro’s fault, but Keith felt like he had to blame someone, so the blame fell on Shiro. Keith didn’t like that he was upset with one of his best friends, but that’s what it had come to. 

 

“You and Lance ready for tomorrow?” Shiro asked, trying his best to make eye contact with Keith.

 

“No,” Keith continued to stare at the ground. “We’re not. I’m not.” Keith picked up his tea to test the heat and winced when his tongue touched the still too hot liquid. 

 

Shiro sighed and walked over to the other side of the kitchen, clearing the doorway in case Keith wanted to bolt. He wasn’t going to force Keith to speak with him about this – he’d learned long ago that forcing Keith to talk never turned out well. He poured the remaining hot water into another mug and placed a wedge of the lemon-fruit in it. Keith couldn’t help but let out a soft snort. 

 

“You’re such an old man.”

 

“Heh, I know. Today, when I got up, I swear I heard my back crack louder than it ever has before. I think I’m getting arthritis.”

 

“No, you’re not. It’ll happen soon, though. Old people get arthritis around the time they turn sixty. You’re close to sixty, right?” Shiro playfully punched Keith’s arm and let out a quiet laugh. Keith smiled in return. There was a moment of silence between them when Keith couldn’t keep it in anymore. 

 

“It’s not fair.”

 

“What’s not fair, Keith?”

 

“All of this. Every single part of it.”

 

Shiro sighed and moved closer to Keith. “I know.”

 

“But you don’t. You haven’t been taking care of him the past week. You haven’t fallen completely in love with this little baby you’re never going to see again after tomorrow. You haven’t wanted kids your whole life and then when you finally have one he’s stripped away from you by fate. You don’t know.”

 

Shiro backed off a tad, already seeing the anger rise up in his friend. “Keith, you do understand why we have to bring him to Earth, right?”

 

“Of course. That’s what makes this even worse. You don’t think I know that he deserves so much better than being stuck in a decades-long space war? Us keeping him here is just selfish. It doesn’t do him any good to be out here where there are a thousand more dangers than there are down there. He deserves to have a family who will love him unconditionally and support him and care for him in a world where he’s not in danger just by existing.” Keith hadn’t realized how loud he had gotten over the course of his rant. He paused for a moment and let out a shaky, angry breath. 

 

“Of course I understand. That doesn’t mean I have to okay with it. I think Lance and I would be good parents. I think we could raise him well out here. I know we’d love him unconditionally and support him and care for him. But he’d always be in danger here. If Haggar knew we had a baby anywhere on this ship, I can’t even imagine what would happen. I love him too much to let anything like that happen to him. 

 

“He deserves a life where the only thing he fears is the imaginary monster in the closet. And I can’t give that to him.” 

 

Keith shakily took a sip of his tea, only then noticing the tears falling as they dripped into the tea. Shiro turned to his friend, took the mug, and wrapped him in his arms. He didn’t have to completely understand everything Keith was going through to comfort him. Shiro held Keith tightly there in the middle of the kitchen. The two swayed back and forth a little, just as Keith had done on several nights with Ollie when he couldn’t fall asleep. 

 

“It’s not fair. None of this is fair.” Keith mumbled into Shiro’s chest. 

 

“I know.” Shiro placed a kiss to Keith’s temple and hugged him tighter. 

 

“Hey, Keith?” Lance appeared in the doorway holding little Ollie, who was bouncing up and down excitedly. 

 

“Yeah?” Keith turned to his husband and wiped away the few tears left on his cheeks. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Lance suddenly became very concerned, but Keith didn’t want him to worry about him tonight. 

 

“Nothing. What’s up?”

 

“Um, well, I think Ollie needs to play with us a bit before he goes to bed. He is restless tonight, aren’t you, little guy?”

 

“Aw, well then let’s go!” Keith threw his arms up in the air and rushed over to the baby. Lance and Ollie soon disappeared from the doorway but Keith stayed behind. 

 

“It’ll be okay, Keith.”

 

“Yeah, okay.” Keith didn’t bother looking up at his mentor. “Night, Shiro.”

 

“Night.” Shiro waved at Keith as he walked by the door. He leaned up against the kitchen counter and sighed as he took a sip of his lemony water. After finishing his drink, Shiro pulled out his tablet to up orphanages on Earth they could visit the next day but found himself unable to type anything at all. He ran his mechanic arm through his hair and placed the tablet down. Why couldn’t he do this? Ollie wasn’t his baby, or even his personal responsibility, but he still couldn’t even think about giving him away. At least, not right now. Shiro placed his mug in the sink and left the kitchen, hoping that by morning, it would all figure itself out. 

 

––––––––––––––––––––

 

Lance sat up abruptly in bed, breathing faster than normal and his heart beating at a faster rate.  _ Must’ve had a bad dream _ , Lance thought to himself. Not unusual for him. He often dreamed that missions went awry in the worst possible ways. Lance sat there for a moment, collecting himself, and looked over at the clock by the bed. His eyes were still heavy with sleep, so he couldn’t really make out what time it was, but he knew it was definitely too early for anyone else on the ship to be up and about. He glanced down at his sleeping husband and smiled. Keith was always adorable when he slept; his body was splayed out over about two thirds of the bed and he looked like a sleepy kitten. Lance loved it. 

 

He leaned down and kissed Keith quickly before hopping out of bed. Lance threw on his blue bathrobe and his lion slippers, which he had kept since day one. He then padded over to the crib where he found Ollie wide awake. He wasn’t crying or stirring, but just happily blinking up at Lance. Ollie reached up for Lance, and, feeling his heart ache a little at the sight, Lance couldn’t help but scoop him up.

 

“Good morning, Ollie. It’s early! Very early!” Lance whispered as he kissed Ollie’s cheek. Ollie cooed and babbled a bit. “Oh, yes. Definitely. Keith is a sleepy butt, isn’t he?” Ollie made a noise that Lance took as a “yes” and let out a chuckle. 

 

The two wandered out of the room and into the main part of the castle. Lance gently bounced Ollie up and down to keep him from getting agitated and the two made their way to the huge window in the castle’s atrium. Lance got as close as he could to the window and plopped down with Ollie in his lap. In the middle of their view was a bright blue, floating orb, with a littler orb circling it. 

 

“That’s Earth, Ollie. And that’s the moon,” said Lance as he pointed to each. “That’s where you’re going. Earth, not the moon.” He clarified. 

 

Ollie leaned forward and pressed his hands against the glass, enamored by the sight of Earth before him. Lance watched as his eyes grew bigger with each second that he stared at the planet. Then, Ollie did something Lance wasn’t quite ready for – he turned and reached out for him eagerly. 

 

“No, Ollie, that’s home. Over there.” Lance pointed once again to Earth only to have Ollie grab his finger and try to use it to pull himself closer to Lance. Ollie used Lance’s hand as leverage to snuggle back into his arms, clearly unamused by Earth anymore. Finally giving in, Lance scooped up the little baby and held him tightly to his chest. He ran his fingers through Ollie’s soft locks and took in every bit of Ollie that he could. 

 

“I don’t want to say goodbye,” sniffled Lance. 

 

He and Ollie sat there, watching Earth grow closer and closer. Well, Lance watched the Earth grow closer and closer. Ollie fell asleep pretty quickly. Despite watching their inevitable goodbye grow closer and closer, Lance couldn’t get himself to move away. More than anything, he didn’t want to disturb Ollie. If this was going to be his last night with him, Lance wasn’t going to do anything to mess it up. As Ollie slept, Lance continued to hold him tightly, refusing to let go at any moment. Damn, this was going to be hard. Really hard. Lance shifted his focus to the baby in his arms. He watched as Ollie’s little chest rose and fell with each breath he took; he paid close attention to Ollie’s heartbeat and felt their heartbeats align. He watched Ollie’s tiny fingers twitch as he dreamed; he watched Ollie’s little nose scrunch up every now and then when he caught a whiff of Lance’s body wash scent. 

 

With every little movement, Lance’s heart swelled and broke at the same time. He loved,  _ loved _ , this moment. But it also hurt like hell. How could he say goodbye to Ollie? He wasn’t sure he could. But he had to. He had to do it. For Ollie’s well-being. For Ollie’s safety. For Ollie. 

 

Lance leaned back against the glass and took a deep breath.  _ For Ollie _ . 

 

––––––––––––––––––––

 

“I’m gonna cry. Nope, nope, already crying.” Hunk squeaked as he gave Ollie one final hug. “Well, I’m gonna miss you, little guy. It’s been fun.” He handed Ollie back to Keith, who escorted Ollie to the next pair of teammates to say their goodbyes. 

 

“Okay, well, I never really liked babies, but I liked you. I had no idea babies could be so beautifully destructive. I guess I’m gonna miss you. And your cute little face. And your cute little hands.” 

 

“Aw, Pidge, are you crying?” Matt teasingly asked.

 

“No, you’re crying!” Pidge croaked as tears formed in her eyes. 

 

“Well of course I’m crying! I cry all the time! You know that!” Matt squawked in return. “Anyway,” Matt spoke more softly, turning to Ollie. “Bye, Ollie. Have a wonderful life on Earth. Okay, high five one last time!” Matt put up his hand and Ollie cheerfully hit it with both of his little ones. 

 

Keith turned around only to find Allura and Coran standing right behind him. 

 

“Can we say goodbye?” Allura asked. Keith nodded and turned Ollie so he was facing them. “Well, little Oliver, it has been a pleasure having you in the castle. I hope your life is full of love and joy on Earth. I can speak for all of us when I say we’re going to miss you very much.” She leaned in and kissed Ollie’s cheek. Ollie, who had always been very enamored with the princess from the start, gave her the biggest smile in return. 

 

“Well, little fella, it has been a joy getting to spend time with you. You reminded me what it’s like to be a father. I’ve missed that. Thank you.” Coran took Ollie’s hand and gently shook it. Ollie happily grabbed Coran’s finger and giggled when Coran made a silly noise when he did so. 

 

“Okay. You two ready?” Shiro asked Lance and Keith. Keith felt a lump growing in his throat. He couldn’t do this. He knew if he went down there with them, he couldn’t give Ollie away. He just couldn’t. Keith took a deep breath and handed the baby to Lance, who gave Keith a confused look. 

 

“I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t. It’s just too much.” Lance nodded solemnly and took Ollie from his clearly distressed husband. Keith took another deep breath and leaned down so that he was face-to-face with Ollie. “All right. Here’s where I gotta say goodbye. I love you so much, Ollie. I wish we had more time together. A lot more time.” Keith paused, trying to find words to express how he felt. Ollie reached out and patted Keith’s face with his hands. 

 

“I know, I know. I’m gonna miss you, too. You’ll always be right here.” Keith took Ollie’s hand and placed it over his heart. “You’ll always be in my heart. And I’m never, ever, going to forget you.” He let out a shaky breath and looked up at Lance. “You find him a good home, okay? A home where he’s going supported no matter what. A home where he’s going to be safe. A home where he’s going to be loved. So, so loved.”   
  
“Yeah. I will.” 

 

Keith leaned down to Ollie one last time. “Okay, well, I guess this is goodbye.” He ran his fingers through Ollie’s soft curls and kissed him on the forehead one last time. “Bye,” Keith barely whispered. With that, Keith turned away from Ollie and his husband and rushed off, afraid that if he stayed any longer he’d break. Ollie softly cried out for Keith but Keith couldn’t turn around again. It would be too much. Too hard. Instead, he pushed forward. The sound of the door closing echoed in the castle and everyone stood still. 

 

Lance shifted Ollie in his arms to more comfortably hold him and walked toward Shiro. He fought back tears as they walked to the ship. Shiro prepared the ship in silence and Lance prepared to take off in silence, as well. Besides the little noises Ollie occasionally made, the trip was just as silent. 

 

After about an hour, Shiro landed the ship just outside of Seattle, Washington, in the woods where he was certain no one would find it. Luckily, Pidge had also installed the cloaking device on the ship so they could more effectively hide it. Shiro pulled out his tablet to look up adoption agencies in the area where they could take the baby. He showed a few to Lance, who simply nodded in approval of them but said nothing. They narrowed down the choices to a few and decided to check them each out before making a final decision. It all seemed so technical, so mechanical. No emotions involved. That would keep them from accomplishing the goal. 

 

Shiro escorted Lance and Ollie out of the ship and they navigated their way to the nearest city. They took a cab to Seattle and once again, they rode in silence. Lance looked outside at the city around them and showed Ollie all the big buildings he could see. Ollie, who had no idea what was happening, excitedly bounced in Lance’s lap each time they saw a new building. Soon, they arrived at the first agency on their list. Shiro, Lance, and Ollie exited the cab and Shiro paid the driver generously for taking them all this way. 

 

“Well, this is it.”

 

Lance looked up at the adoption agency. “Annie’s Adoption Agency,” the sign read.  _ Ugh, what a cheesy name _ , Lance thought. The building looked nice enough; it was red brick and two stories high. There was a mural painted on the side of the building of children playing in a garden. It looked nice. There was no doubt about that. But Lance didn’t like it. Something about it made him feel queasy. He wasn’t sure if it was the location or the cheesy name, but this place didn’t feel right. 

 

“All right, we should go in and look at it.” Shiro walked up the stairs only to find that Lance hadn’t followed him. “Lance. We need to go in. If we’re going to make a decision, we need to–”

 

“I can’t.” Lance blurted. 

 

“What?”   
  
“I can’t. I can’t go in there, Shiro. Going in there means that this is really happening. Going in there means that I have to say goodbye. Going in there means that I’m never going to see him again.” Lance held Ollie more tightly to his chest and backed away from the steps. Shiro slowly walked down the stairs and stopped in front of Lance. 

 

“Sounds like you don’t want to give Ollie up.” Shiro stated firmly. 

 

“I don’t,” admitted Lance softly. 

 

“Lance, can I tell you something?” Shiro’s tone changed and became warmer as he moved closer to Lance. Lance nodded. “Last night, when I went to look up adoption agencies so that we’d be prepared for today, I couldn’t.”

 

“Bad tablet? Pidge fixed mine, I’m sure she could fix yours–”   
  


“No, Lance, I  _ couldn’t _ . Every time I thought of Ollie living down here with someone else, I couldn’t handle it. I just couldn’t. I put on a brave face for you and Keith so that we could do what we set out to do, but, Lance, I don’t think we can. Not just because it has become impossible to give Ollie up, but because I don’t think we should.”   
  
Lance stared up at Shiro, confused, because the leader he had known to always carry out a mission was telling him to do the exact opposite. 

 

“Lance, if we leave Ollie here, we have no guarantee that he’ll end up in a good home. We have no guarantee that he won’t end up in the foster system with some awful family who doesn’t love him like he should be loved. Who doesn’t support him no matter what. 

 

“But, I know two people who will love him unconditionally. Two people who will support him no matter what. And one of them is standing right in front of me. I know you and Keith will be amazing parents for this baby. I’ve never known two people more fit for this journey than you two. No matter what, he’ll have two parents who love him and an entire family who will always be there for him.”

 

“So,” Lance choked out, “You’re saying Keith and I should keep Ollie?” He expected a long response from his hero and mentor but got the exact opposite.

 

“Yes. I am. So, what do you say we head back to the ship and bring Ollie home?” Shiro asked, already walking to the street to find a cab. Lance, still slightly in shock of all that Shiro had just said, took a moment to absorb it all. Only when Ollie squealed at a pigeon did Lance snap out of it. 

 

“Ollie!” Lance held Ollie close and hugged him tightly. “Oh, Ollie. Whaddya say we go home?”

 

“Om!” Ollie chanted. 

 

“Yeah, home.” 

 

––––––––––––––––––––

 

Keith rolled over in bed when he heard the door to their room open. He had been laying there since Lance and Ollie left, too heartbroken to do anything else. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking for Lance’s familiar silhouette. Soon enough, Lance sat down next to him and Keith found it hard to look at his husband. 

 

“Hey,” Lance spoke quietly. 

 

“He’s gone. He’s really gone.” Keith thought he had cried all his tears, but more came. He fell into Lance’s arms and let the wave of sadness hit him again. 

 

“Well, actually, there’s something I need to show you.”

 

“Not now, Lance,” Keith managed to get out. 

 

“No, uh, I really need to show you this. Really, really need to.”

 

“Um, okay.” Keith leaned back and looked up at Lance. “What?”

 

“Shiro!” Lance exclaimed.

 

“Shiro? You really, really need to show me Shiro?”

 

“No, no. Shiro?” Lance said a little louder. Keith heard an audible “Oh!” come from outside his door and then it opened again. Shiro popped his head into the room.

 

“Can we come in?” Lance gestured for them to do so and Keith pondered why Shiro had said “we.”

 

Shiro stepped into the room carrying a little bundle with him. A squirming little bundle. A little bundle that looked a lot like Ollie. Keith’s heart beat faster as he stood up from the bed and slowly made his way over to Shiro. 

 

“Is that?” Keith asked.

 

“Yeah,” whispered Lance.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. It’s him. Here.” Shiro handed the bundle to Keith and Keith nearly fell over when he saw Ollie’s smile. 

 

“Ollie?” Ollie blinked a few times before reaching out. Keith let out a wet laugh as he lifted Ollie up to kiss him. Between the laughs and tears, Keith kissed every inch of Ollie he could reach. He hugged the little baby tightly like he’d never let go. 

 

“Oh, Ollie. Ollie, Ollie, Ollie. Hi, sweetheart.” Keith whispered to the baby in his arms, who cooed each time Keith said his name. The two stayed there, caught in an embrace, for several minutes. Lance and Shiro watched the happy reunion and couldn’t help but smile, and cry, as well. 

 

“How? What happened?” Keith asked. 

 

“Well, um, I couldn’t say goodbye. I don’t know how you did it. But, yeah, I couldn’t leave him there. Neither of us could,” added Lance, gesturing to Shiro. Shiro smiled back at Lance and then stepped out to let the couple have their moment alone. 

 

“So, um, he’s… ours?” 

 

“Yeah.” Lance said quietly as he moved closer to Keith and their baby. Keith wrapped one of his arms around Lance’s waist to pull him closer.

 

“Thank you,” whispered Keith. He leaned up to meet Lance’s lips. The kiss was wet and sloppy and filled with joy. Ollie squawked in discomfort, which made the two lovers finally separate. 

 

“Oh, you want kisses, too?” Lance asked Ollie. “Well, I think we can help with that, right Keith?”

 

“Oh, definitely.” Keith shifted so that Ollie was between him and Lance.

 

“Here comes the kissy monster!” Lance exclaimed as he dove in to tickle Ollie and give him little raspberries all over his pudgy tummy. Ollie squealed with laughter as his new fathers kissed him over and over again. 

 

In that moment, Keith knew they were a family, and always would be. 

 

––––––––––––––––––––

Epilogue – Three Years Later

––––––––––––––––––––

 

A cold draft grazed Keith’s exposed skin and made him shiver. He shuffled to move further beneath the sheets and closer to his husband. Keith curled into Lance’s side and wrapped his arms around Lance’s slender waist, hoping that Lance would warm him up so he could go back to sleep. It helped a little, but before long, Keith was wide awake. He admitted defeat and settled for cuddling up to his husband for a bit longer before they truly had to get up. Just as Keith got comfortable, he felt a little lump push its way between him and Lance. Ollie’s head soon popped up from beneath the sheets and Keith kept as still as possible to let Ollie think he had snuck in without waking his parents. 

 

“Morning, Ollie.” Keith whispered quietly. Ollie jumped and turned to face Keith. 

 

“Hi daddy.”

 

“What are you doing? It’s early.” Keith removed his arms from Lance’s waist and scooped up his son as best he could. 

 

Ollie shrugged and curled up into Keith’s arms. Keith knew what that meant. That meant that Ollie woke up early, couldn’t go back to sleep, and decided to go looking for cuddles. Keith didn’t mind. He knew that he and Lance should set some boundaries about when Ollie could come into their room and wake them up, but right now, that was kind of hard. Their son was just too cute to ignore, and cuddling in the morning was always well-received. 

 

“Is papa up?” Ollie glanced over at Lance, who was still snoring quietly.

 

“Not yet. Wanna wake him up with me?” Ollie nodded excitedly and squirmed out of Keith’s arms so he could stand up. Keith watched as his son perched above Lance, ready to pounce. About a second later, Ollie flung himself on top of Lance, who released a loud “oof!” 

 

“Hi papa!” 

 

Lance groaned and kept his eyes closed, playing along. 

 

“Oh, no. I think we’re going to need the tickle monster, don’t you?” Ollie’s smile grew big as he dove back in to tickle Lance everywhere he could reach. It wasn’t long before Lance couldn’t take it anymore and gave in. Lance sprung up and playfully pinned his son to the bed. 

 

“Oh, good morning, Ollie! How’d you sleep?”

 

“Good, papa!” 

 

“Oh, good!” Lance laughed as he leaned down to kiss his son. 

 

“Okay, time to go to the kissen!” Ollie declared. He squirmed out of Lance’s grasp and stood up on the bed. He raised his arm triumphantly and prepared to jump off the bed. 

 

“The kissen? You mean the kitchen?” Keith inquired.

 

“Yes. The kissen.” Ollie huffed. 

 

“No, babe, I think he means he wants us to kiss. Right, Ollie?” Lance looked up at his son, who huffed again and crossed his arms. 

 

“No, time for pancakes!” He declared once more. 

 

“Oh, I think you’re right, Lance. C’mere.” Keith pulled his husband in for a loud, sloppy kiss. Ollie lunged forward and tried to stop his dads.

 

“Ew! Time for pancakes!” He eagerly pulled them apart and grabbed each of their hands. Ollie jumped off the bed and tugged his fathers along. Both suddenly went limp, making it very difficult for Ollie to pull them. He finally gave up. 

 

“Kissen! Pancakes!” Ollie cheered as he bolted out of their door. Lance and Keith plopped back on the bed, not quite ready to go to the kitchen just yet. Lance leaned over and pulled Keith in for a tender kiss. 

 

“Mornin’ darlin’,” he breathed.

 

“Darlin’? You’re ridiculous.” Keith chuckled as he pulled Lance back down for another kiss. “Hm. Morning breath.” Still, he didn’t care too much and kissed his husband again. They almost forgot about Ollie until they heard him shout from the kitchen.

 

“Daddy! Papa! Pancakes!”

 

“Heh, I think we’d better get going.” Lance pouted when Keith stood up. “We’ll finish this later, don’t worry,  _ darlin’ _ .” Keith winked and reached out his hand. Lance took it and stood up next to him. 

 

“Ready?” Keith glanced at his very tired husband.    
  
“Eh, not really. But I think we’d better go before Mr. Pancakes Now barges back in here.” Keith let out a soft laugh and laced his fingers with Lance’s. The two stepped out into the drafty castle, ready to face the kitchen mess Ollie had undoubtedly already made. And they couldn’t have been happier about it. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much for reading my work! I had a lot of fun writing this for a Klance Secret Santa on tumblr. My tumblr is beautiful-brilliant-muskox if you have any questions! 
> 
> Here are a few quick notes:
> 
> \- This story was inspired by the song "Uneven Odds" by Sleeping At Last. I highly recommend listening to this song as well as the rest of their album 
> 
> \- Immediately after all the things with the baby were sorted out, Lance and Keith did go back to Earth and went shopping for baby things. Lance's favorite purchase was a little astronaut onesie, and Keith's was a dinosaur one. 
> 
> \- Shiro and Hunk are Ollie's godfathers. They watched all three movies to try and learn how to be godfathers but only ended up learning how to imitate Al Pacino.
> 
> \- Coran helped Lance and Keith build a new room in the castle for Ollie that is right next to theirs, and the room is painted green, thanks to Pidge. 
> 
> \- Keith and Lance wanted Ollie's first word to be "dada" or "papa," but it ended up being "hug," which made his fathers die of cuteness.


End file.
